eMailMax 01/20/18 : Page 1

ECRWSS Local Postal Customer Paper. News Good Your January 20, 2018 www.MailMaxOnline.com POSTMASTER: Please deliver on January 20, 2018 Printed with soy ink on recycled paper Volume 19, Ver. 03 Moody on The Market “I t’s been a great 19-year run…and while we hadn’t really planned on stepping away for at least another couple of years, you never want to look a great opportunity in the eyes and not take it seriously.” The words of Tom & Jean Cellentani , who have owned and operated the Dairy Queen properties in St. Joseph and Stevensville for nearly two decades. However, both units have been sold in recent weeks to a South Bend partnership, hav-ing changed hands at the beginning of the New Year bringing that great run to a close, and the transition to completion. Cellentani says he told his employees of the sale late last month, and they’ve had the opportu-nity to meet the new guys and Tom will be the first to tell you that it is about as close to a perfect match for the transition as he could hope for. The new owners are Brian Frick of South Bend and his partner David Ulman from Rolling Prairie . Frick has been involved with Dairy Queen virtu-ally his entire life, with his parents owning the South Bend DQ since 1977 until he bought it from them eight years ago. The Cellentanis have long espoused a philosophy of taking first rate care of not only the customers who cross their paths every day, but also to take top notch care of their employees while together they work for the betterment of the community at large. Tom tells me, “We actually ended up pulling the trigger a couple of years sooner than we would have antic-ipated, but they (the new owners) wanted to expand and they contacted us about making a deal.” He adds, “I know that they share the philosophies of taking care of the team, the cus-tomers and giving back to the community, and that’s about as close a perfect match as we could hope for in selling the properties to new owners.” Tom wasn’t sure whether to characterize his sta-tus after New Year’s Eve as being “unemployed or retired.” He says it could change day-to-day as he peruses the landscape before him. One thing is certain, Michigan’s Great Southwest will con-tinue to be home to the Cellentani clan for “likely the rest of our lives.” He says, “We’re staying here, we have a cottage we love in Sister Lakes , so there’s no need for a beach in Florida – besides, we absolutely love St. Joseph and the surrounding communities and this is our home.” It’s that same overwhelming love of the area that attracted Brian Frick in the first place. He says, “We looked at quite a few other Dairy Queen properties, but this is such an incredibly beautiful area and Tom has done a spectacular job with these two stores. It looks like they’ve done very well over the years, and we’re hopeful that will continue to be the story going forward.” Frick is very excited about the take over and says that he and his wife will relocate to a home much closer than their current home in South Bend in the not too distant future. For his part, Tom won’t be M oody ANNUAL Pat FLOOR FLOOR SAMPLES 25-70% OFF SIT and try out our furniture. SPEAK to us about what you like. STAY and see all we have to offer. Fun, fashionable, functional & affordable furniture. J ACK 613 Broad St., St. Joseph, Michigan • 269-983-7774 www.harbortowninteriors.com ALL SALES FINAL. Inserts & Promotions MailMax is a publication of Far Ahead Advertising, Inc. 2202 Plaza Drive Benton Harbor, MI 49022 • Martin’s Super Markets • Harding’s Friendly Markets • Save-A-Lot • Wedding Guide Inserts may vary by Zip Code Phone: 269.934.7522 FAX: 269.934.3297 email: publisher@mailmaxonline.com www.MailMaxOnline.com •www.facebook.com/eMailMax Continued on page 4